Perspectives on the beautiful game of soccer; fueled by enormous amounts of coffee

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Double-time

The Galaxy usually have Wednesday off, but that turned out especially well for David Beckham, as he mentioned to reporters last week. "Of course," he said when Martin Rogers asked if he'd be watching the Champion's League final. Yet Becks has also become a big Lakers fan, and they're starting the Western Conference finals as well. No prob. Becks owns a swanky downtown pad, reportedly right across from the Staples Center, at the new Ritz condos. So, a good plan would be to watch the Champion's League Final there, then mosey across the street to Staples for the Lakers game. Which he apparently did with Brooklyn, his eldest. I find it amusing the Daily Mail doesn't mention the Lakers are in a final series of their own. Also, considering the Lakers were behind most of the match before a big comeback, I'm not surprised Becks was "subdued". I'm sure he cheered up at the end.The one who could be grumpy today is Ruud Gullit, ex-Chelsea coach. Galaxy guys might expect an extra-long practice.

Becks may be a bandwagoner, or maybe he started as a Lakers fan because Kobe, who loved and played soccer as a child, came to a Galaxy game - who knows what might have happened if Elton Brand had showed up first?

a) This is a blog. We could just google Andrea and Luis's regularly published articles if we didn't want to read the big AND little things they notice that don't fit in those.

b) On the subject of which, have you ever noticed the number on Beckham's jersey? #7 was taken by Real Madrid's captain, so Beckham chose Michael Jordan's number. Surprisingly enough, people often lead whole lives before they arrive in the U.S. and suddenly become visible to Americans, and they come across all kinds of things, even basketball! Everyone in the UK knows that Beckham's always been a basketball fan -- and that he ran cross country and was a competitive swimmer at school. Lots of little things that say a great deal about how someone becomes the player they are.

I don't know much about MLS players and appreciate this blog because it provides information and anecdotes about them, both on and off the pitch, that help me understand the ups and downs of their games as well as what they might and might not be capable of.

AC, I was in LA this week and listening to the radio to Jim Rome and got to thinking - when do you think Becks is going to go on that show and when is Becks going to do Fox Football FoneIn? Not that those shows are so great, but those would be two types of opportunities with a good following of general sports fans that would be nice targets for MLS. It's kind of strange neither has happened and he's been here over a year. Becks has surely met people with awful attitudes before, so it wouldn't be that taxing. Thoughts?

I don't work for either Rome or FFF, so it never occurred to me to ask Becks why he hasn't gone on those shows. Technically, he hasn't done a lot of interviews yet - I'm still waiting for my big exclusive sit-down. :)

AC, I know you dont work for Becks...but since he is the "Face of MLS" and I thought you had a ton of access to him/his peeps/AEG brass I thought you might have some insight. Did not know you are waiting for your own exclusive interview.

In other news - here is a Shaka Hislop article for you to sharpen your knives on. Come on..I know you want to...LOL

Actually, AEG brass and I don't mix much at all. I pretty much get access to Becks at post-game pressers and at his once-a-week post-practice with media. If Rome, FFF, TJ Simers, et al, come to those, they can ask Becks stuff, too. Incidentally, though, there will be no post-game Becks conference after the KC game this weekend. He has to leave right after the match to catch a flight to England. Galaxy media relations gave everyone the heads-up on that today.

Great to see this amuses you AC. No one in the US Media has covered the fact that Serioux gave an interview in 2007 saying he was out to get Beckham and then happened to make a reckless tackle on him this weekend but you think this is worthy of attention?

You guys can't even find the really intersting stories when they are staring you in the face. Why doesn't someone ask Serioux and/or FC Dallas management about the quotes from Serioux in February 2007? That would be journalism so I guess that's a bridge too far.